An Open Source Selective Laser Sintering 3D Printer for Rapid Manufacturing in Wax

Motivation:
The current leading open source 3D printers print only in ABS or PLA and are restricted both by the limitations inherent in these materials and by the limitations of the FDM process. Though these printers are entirely capable of self-replication and of producing parts for a variety of light-duty applications, they cannot produce pieces that can replace the cast aluminum parts found in power machinery, CNC equipment, or in numerous other high-strength applications.

Goals:
The goal of this project is to provide a method for rapidly manufacturing complex pieces in metal by manufacturing a wax "positive" of the object, which is then used to make a mold for the lost wax casting process. Current metal rapid manufacturing techniques rely on high-power lasers, plasma jets, or electric arcs to sinter metal powder. This approach sidesteps the higher costs and dangers of these high-power systems in favor of a relatively low power laser-sintering technique.

A complete report on the project with more technical details can be found here. A summary of this project can also be found on the RepRap Wiki